Elan, Elan
by Aeris Ultimavara
Summary: Neglected at home, Maddie turns to a street gang called The Tiptons for attention. There, she forms a connection with a Tipton member called Esteban. Based on the song South Side by Moby and Gwen Stefani. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

(Obligatory Disclaimer: Neither the Suite Life characters, or the song lyrics belong to me. )

**é·lan**_  
n._

1. Enthusiastic vigor and liveliness.  
2. Distinctive style or flair.

* * *

_  
I see myself in the pouring home  
I see the light come over now_

Madeline Fitzpatrick watched the late afternoon sun slant across the floor as the sound of shouting echoed through the small apartment in which she lived with her parents. It was they who were shouting - arguing, as they so often did, over Maddie knew not what. She had been waiting for the shouts to subside for the past hour and a half, ever since she had gotten home from school. That was the way every day was for Maddie, with her parents too concerned with their own problems to pay any attention to her, unless it were to raise a hand against her for getting in their way.

"I've had enough of this," she thought finally, after another half hour had passed without them emerging from their room. "I might as well go somewhere where I'm wanted."

She was referring to the family she had found outside of her home, to substitute the negligent one inside it. Maddie, like many young people who have no where else to turn for love, had fallen in with a street gang known as the Tiptons.

_I see myself in the pouring rain  
I watch hope come over me_

As she headed down the dark, narrow stairs of her apartment complex, she heard raindrops begin to fall down upon the poorly constructed roof, slowly at first, and then more rapidly, until it became a storm. But she did not stop or turn back, and eventually stepped out into the deluge, not caring if she got soaked to the bone. After all, if her parents didn't care about her, why should she care about herself? The only people who would even notice would be the Tiptons she was going to meet. As she thought about them, she began to feel the slightest bit better. Marion Moseby, the group's leader, was more like a father to her than her real one, and Carey Martin, Moseby's right hand woman, often took the place of Maddie's absent mother.

Carey's sons, Zack and Cody, were like brothers to Maddie, and London, the daughter of the groups's slain founder, Wilfred Tipton, was more like her sister than any blood relation could be. The two girls both came from fractured homes - London's mother had left years ago, and her father, while he did show her attention, had shown it in the wrong way, by taking his young daughter along with him in crimes. After he was kiled by the Tiptons' rivals, a gang known as the Saints, London remained with Wilfred's followers, having no one left to look out for her.

And then there was Esteban Montoya del Rosa. Having grown up among the drug wars of South America, he was constantly exposed to violence, and became a hardened veteran at a young age. Jaded as he was, almost nothing he saw could surprise him anymore, or move him to any of the tenderer feelings of man.

That was why it was so surprising when, upon Maddie's induction into the Tipton gang, that he had taken the downtrodden girl under his wing, and appointed himself her particular friend and protector. He took care of her at times when she couldn't or wouldn't take care of herself - time like this, when he was now pulling up next to her as she trudged down the sidewalk, her hair matted and wet, her mascara running, and her head hanging low.

"Hey, bunny rabbit," he called over the din of the rain. "You look like you could use a lift. Hop in." So saying, he leaned over and pushed open the passenger side door of his car.

Maddie followed his instructions, and watched water splash on the seat as she pulled the door shut again. But whether that water came from the rain, or from her own tears, she couldn't tell.

* * *

**I know this chapter was short, but I'm following Quirky Del's example and having this be the teaser chapter. Hang on, and more will come soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Here we are now, going to the east side  
I pick up my friends and we start to ride_

"What were you doing out there in the rain?" Esteban asked as he cruised the car towards the east side of town, where the Tiptons were based.

"Nothing. I just..I just didn't have an umbrella," she said, not really answering his question. She wiped her eyes quickly, hoping he wouldn't notice she had been crying.

"I see," said Esteban, meaning it more ways than one. But he didn't say anything more. he knew his young friend was upset, but if she didn't want to talk about it, he wasn't going to force her. It was these kinds of gentle behaviors towards Maddie that mystified the rest of the Tipton group. But he never volunteered any information as to how or why he could take care of her so well, and they dared not ask. For even though Esteban was their friend and fellow Tipton, they were still aware of how quickly he could become dangerous, even towards them.

Maddie and Esteban rode on in silence for a while, until Maddie began shivering from the cold of the air condition meeting with her wet clothes. Esteban noticed, and reached over to flick off the AC switch. It was then that the silence was broken, for at this simple gesture, the tears which Maddie had been trying to hide escaped her again.

"Maddie," said Esteban gently.

"I'm sorry," she interrupted him. Through the years she had learned that crying was one of the things that irked her parents the most. She could hear their voices now.. "You want to cry? I'll give you something to cry about.." So her natural reaction had become to apologize and make an excuse for it.

"It's just that you're so nice to me." she finished. "I really think you're the only person who cares whether I live or die."

"Do you?" he asked. "What about Moseby, or Carey, or London? They care about you.."

"No they don't" she said. She knew he was right, but she was too agitated to acknowledge it, wanting instead to just be difficult for a while. "They only tolerate me because you do. I mean, if my own family doesn't want me, why should a bunch of strangers?"

Again, she knew she wasn't telling the truth. She knew that the Tiptons were much more than strangers to her, but her flustered spirits wouldn't allow her to be reasonable.

"Hey, listen to me," he said, trying to calm her down. Families can be funny like that. Your blood relations can act like strangers, and people who never knew you before can love you more than anything. Now your parents, from what I hear, are one of those selfish kinds of families. To hear them tell it, they'd say they didn't ask to have you, so they shouldn't have to take care of you,"

"Thanks for rubbing it in," Maddie sniffed.

"I'm not finished yet, doll," he answered, using one of his many pet names for her. "What I was going to say is that your parents, because they can't see anything apst themselves, can't see that they were given a really great gift when they got you, a gift that anyone would feel priviliged to have. Now we, on the other hand, we want you with us because we know how special you are, and we love you for it."

If Maddie had not been in such an emotional state, she might have noticed more feeling in this speech than what an impartial friend would use, and she might have noticed the peculiar way he would pause before saying the word "we." But as it was, his words were still enough to improve her spirits, and her sobs eventually subsided.

"Feeling better, now?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Then here we are," he said, pulling the car to a stop in underneath an orange streetlight around which the Tiptons were gathered. It was only then that Maddie realized that the streetligths were on, and night was falling. It shouldn't have taken that long to get there from her home, and she looked at Esteban to ask what had happened. His face didn't give anything away, but she put the clues together, and came to understand that he had purposely driven the long way around so she could have her cry out without anyone else seeing. She opened her mouth to thank him, but then closed it again. She knew he would never admit to it, so she had to content herself with being silently grateful. If Esteban could be so kind to her, then maybe she really was worth something, and that was an encouraging thought.

_Ride all night, yeah, we ride all day  
Some may come, love, and some may stay_

_

* * *

_

**Stay tuned for chapter three!**


	3. Chapter 3

_Here we are in the pouring home  
I watch the light man fall the comb_

But Maddie had not much time for entertaining such happy thoughts as these. For no sooner did she step out of the car than she saw another set of figures - a large, swarthy woman, accompanied by a shorter one sporting a pair of blonde buns - also walking towards the small congregation.

"Hello Moseby," the blonde woman said through a German accent.

"Ilsa," he returned curtly. "What do you want?"

"Can't I pay a nice visit to all my old friends?" she asked in tones of mock suprise. "I just want to see how you all are doing."

"I bet you do," said Carey, stepping out from behind Moseby.

"Ah, still here, are you Spiky-hair? You and your kinder-brats." Ilsa observed, then turning to survey the rest of the crowd. "Little orphan London, Carrot Top, (referring to Patrick, a bespectacled redhead) and his little cronies, what are your names - Mary and Witch?"

"Gary and Rich" bristlingly responded Patrick's two closest friends. Ilsa pretended not to hear them, and moved on with her inspection.

"Arwin Hawkhauser...you really are in the wrong place you know. You should come join us." She said this because there was a high concentration of Germans within the Saints' ranks, and Arwin's surname was clearly from that country.

"And who's this little waif?" Ilsa asked as her gaze fell on Maddie. "She was not here when I left you losers."

Ilsa said this because she had once been a Tipton herself. But her devotion to the group was not genuine. It rested solely on the hopes she had concerning Wilfred Tipton. She fancied herself in love with him, and hoped to one day secure his love in return. But when she made her feelings known to him, he scorned and rejected her. After this, she deserted the Tiptons and allied herself with their rivals, where her unrelenting fury towards Wilfred, and therefore all things Tipton, earned her a place at the top of the Saints. Although they were in theory led by Todd St. Mark, who, like London, was the son of the gang's founder, his youth and inexperience allowed Ilsa to control him, making her the real leader, and Todd the puppet.

Upon Ilsa's notice of Maddie, Gretl, the large woman she had come with, began to move in her direction to get a better look. That Maddie's direction also happened to be the same direction Esteban was in, was all the better in Gretl's opinion. For she, like Ilsa, had feelings for a Tipton man, and the man in this case was Esteban. But in another similarity to Ilsa's case, the object of Gretl's affections did not return them. At the present, he was only concerned with keeping her away from his friend.

"Step off," he said as Gretl moved towards them.

Gretl, whose mental capacities were not the greatest, stopped moving while she tried to figure out what was going on. When it finally dawned on her, anger clouded her broad face and she took another oversized step forward.

"Hey, you heard the man," said young Zack Martin, darting quickly between her and her prey. "Back off, Big Bertha!"

Zack and his twin brother Cody fulfilled the conventional description of a tag-team. Zack was the agressive brawn, and Cody was the reserved brains. Zack would fight any time the opportunity presented itself, such as in this instance, but Cody would only fight when he had to. However, his quick thinking often allowed him to out-manuever stronger opponents. Cody was preparing to come to his brother's aid now, as Gretl was about to sway Zack out of the way, but Ilsa barked her name, and Gretl immediately stepped back.

"Come," Ilsa said, and turned away. "We're leaving."

But before following her leader, Gretl opened her mouth, and in an unsual display of verbosity, said to Esteban: "Don't worry. I won't hurt your friend now. She's so small, she'd snap in half the second she was touched, and that wouldn't be any fun. It's only fun when the pain is stretched out."

Having fulfulled her word quota for the month in this one sentence, she said no more, but lumbered off behind Ilsa.

"That was weird." remarked Arwin when they had left. He was an amiable but somewhat scatterbrained Tipton member, whose extensive knowledge of mechanics made him especially suited for carjacking. "Why would they come all the way over here just to throw some empty insults at us? They must have had some other motive..."

"You would know, wouldn't you, Hawkhauser?" growled a suddenly on edge Esteban. Gretl's words had unnerved him, and being unable to take his feelings out on her, he shifted his anger to the the hapless Arwin, who often caught flak because of the origin of his last name.

"What? You know I don't have anything to do with them," protested Arwin, his hands raised defensively.

"Who even cares, anyway?" interrupted Patrick, who was leaning carelessly on the chainlink fence behind him.

Esteban turned from Arwin to Patrick with sudden force. "Who cares?" he repeated,"Someone just threatened a Tipton, and you're asking who cares?"

_I watch a light move across the screen  
I watch the light come over me_

Maddie watched this interchange with growing dread. "Please don't say anything stupid," she willed Patrick silently. If he did, she knew Esteban would have no qualms about becoming violent. And if he did, it would be all her fault. She guessed the reason why Esteban was so upset, and if he pulverized Patrick for it, that would be just one more problem she had, at least indirectly, caused.

But Patrick had to say what he felt, and what he felt was angry with the whole gang situation, his own gang included. Because, as so many of the players in our story have taken up archetypal mantles, it is time now for Patrick to assume the role of disillusioned dreamer. Growing up, Patrick had planned on going to college and becoming a great writer, like Scott or Fitzgerald or Hemingway. But with little money, and little help, the demands of taking care of himself and his family proved too much for Patrick, and he was forced to give up his scholarly dreams. All that was left of them now were nights spent poring over what literature he could get his hands on. But all these nights did were fill his head with ideas of romance and adventure, thus making more and more dissatisfied with the life he had, and turning him rather cynical towards everyone and everything.

"I really don't think that troll has enough brain cells to remember anything that happened over two seconds ago. But then again, I have no feelings of a personal nature that might cloud my judgement involved in this situation."

Esteban sprang towards Patrick and wrapped a hand around his throat. "You wanna say that again?" he snarled, not having failed to miss what Patrick was insinuating.

Maddie shut her eyes tight, despairing at having no where she could go that she wouldn't cause problems. In reality, all she had to do was say the word and Esteban would leave Patrick be. But she did not yet know the full extent of her power over him, so all she could do was shut her eyes tight and wait for the sounds of a beating to begin. Instead, she heard Moseby's voice, calling Esteban off.

And to Maddie's relief, Esteban complied. For though, because of his strength and ferocity, everyone in the group respected Esteban almost as much as they did Moseby, Esteban himself was still entirely loyal to his leader, and would never once think of disobeying him.

"Moseby's right. Please don't blame Patrick or Arwin for this," Maddie said. She wanted to add "Blame me," to her sentence, but she knew it was neither the place nor time to verbalize those feelings. And Esteban would never do it anyway, even if she did say it.

"Fine, but I'm still going to take that Gretl seriously. I'm not going to risk you getting hurt," he replied.

"And I'm sure Maddie appreciates your concern, but now, if you don't mind, I have some things I'd like to discuss with everyone." Moseby said, treating his group as if it were a company, and he was conducting a business meeting. This mentality was part of the reason why the Tiptons were so succesful. No random acts of violence that would unecessarily expose them to the eye of law enforcement were acceptable for Marion Moseby. If they were going to do something, he insisted on planning it out, and considering everyone's input. But what particular crimes Moseby had in mind this night, we will leave to him and his "employees."

Hours later, Esteban and Maddie were in the car again, heading back the way they had come that afternoon. When they arrived at Maddie's apartment complex, she stepped out onto the curb, and to her surprise, Esteban killed the ignition and got out as well. It was the first time he had done that out of all the times he had dropped her off.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I'm walking you to your door, what's it look like?" he said, trying to sound playful in order to mask his concern. He wanted to stay with her as long as he possibly could because Gretl's threat was still ringing in his ears, and he didn't want to leave her even the slightest opportunity to get to Maddie.

"Well, yeah, but...oh nevermind." She was going to ask why he was doing it, until she remembered Patrick's words earlier in the night - about Esteban's feelings of a personal nature. She always thought that Esteban looked at her like a little sister, but what if Patrick was right in saying that he felt more? Either way, she didn't want to bring it up, because she hadn't forgotten what Esteban's reaction to Patrick had been, and she didn't want to cause a similar reaction now.

The end of these musings found them in front of Maddie's apartment door. She turned her key in the lock and opened the door just a crack, listening for any sound from her parents.

"Well, at least they didn't wait up for me," she joked when she heard none. In reality, she wished she did have the kind of parents who cared enough to make sure she got home alright. But Esteban did what he could to fill that place, and she was grateful for it.

"Don't mention it. Just... just be careful, ok? he said when she thanked him for his concerns.

"I will," she answered, noticing the unusual way he hesitated, as if he were reluctant to leave.

"Well, goodnight then," she said after neither of them had spoken for a while.

"Sweet dreams, chicky baby." he replied, recovering his cool enough to use another jocund nickname.

Maddie shut the door and locked it, smiling at Esteban's advice.


	4. Chapter 4

**So it seems my fanfic-writing life is limited to Christmas and summer breaks, because I am so busy during the school months. But now that the fall semester is almost over, I've had a little more time for writing, and have been able to bring you chapter four of this story. Tell me what you think...I hope my writing chops aren't too rusty...  
**

* * *

When Maddie woke up the next morning, the first sight that greeted her upon stepping outside her building was Esteban's old maroon Riviera waiting for her. 

"Morning." he greeted her, "Which way is your school?"

"It's west of here, on Cullen Street," she said, sliding into her usual place in the passenger seat. She didn't bothering to ask why he wanted to know. By now she knew he was not in the habit of giving straight answers when it came to his behavior toward her. So she satisfied herself with staring out the window, and realized, as she examined the view, that it was the exact same view she was afforded when the car pulled up to the curb the night before. The car hadn't moved an inch.

"Esteban," she chided. "Surely you didn't stay out here all night?"

"Of course not," he said, not letting on that he knew what she was talking about. " Why would you say that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Just wondering." Maddie said teasingly. She was beginning to slip into a rare bout of giddiness, the thanks for which belonged to her friend's constant attentions. How could a girl help but smile when she had someone like Esteban to look out for her?

"Kids these days," Esteban returned, "You get the craziest ideas." But the remark was only a halfhearted one. He knew he had been found out. It was true that after seeing Maddie to her door, he had not left the building. Instead, he had camped out in his car overnight, hardly sleeping, just so he could make sure no-one unfriendly tried to hurt Maddie during the night.

Even now, when day had dawned, he would not let his vigilance waver. Once he and Maddie arrived at her school, he proceeded so far as to walk her right up to the entrance, just like a parent would for a little child. But despite his obvious concern for her welfare, he still got several disapproving looks from some fussy old teachers. They clearly did not approve of Maddie's association with such a "suspicious" looking older guy.

Maddie saw all this, but pretended not to notice their stares. They had no idea what Esteban was really like, and she wasn't going to let their ignorance bring her down today, not when she had had such a great morning. Spiritedly, she laughed and tossed her hair in their faces, feeling better than she had in a long time.

* * *

Her good mood lasted all through the school day, and was only heightened when she saw the Buick waiting for her when she exited the building that afternoon. 

"Hey Esteban!" she said cheerily, leaning in through the rolled-down window. "Thanks for coming to get me."

"Don't worry about it," he said, somewhat distractedly, as his glance kept moving between her and his rear-view mirror.

"So what's new with you since this morning?" she asked conversationally, slinging her things into the backseat.

"Not much, but I promise to tell you all about it if you hurry and hop in," he answered somewhat curtly.

Maddie was startled by the edge in his voice. She wondered what could have happened between the morning and now that had caused such a change in attitude. But she didn't dare ask him, especially when he seemed so impatient to get going. Instead, she slid obediently into her usual seat without saying a word. As she leaned over to click her slightly rusted seatbelt into place, she caught a glimpse of Esteban's right hand. In surprise and confusion, she saw it stop over a Luger pistol tucked into his belt, hover there for a few seconds, then move to shift the car into drive.

_Here we are now going to the west side  
Weapons in hand as we go for a ride  
_

It wasn't the fact that he had the gun. Maddie knew he carried more weapons than that on him regularly. But she wondered why he would be so concious of it now. But what was he afraid of, that made him snap at her, and made him need reassurance of the gun? She had never known Esteban to be afraid of anybody, except, of course, for last night, when Gretl's words bothered him so.

But he couldn't really think anything would come of it, could he? Especially not now, in broad daylight. For her part, Maddie was inclined to agree with what Patrick had said - Gretl probably wouldn't even remember making a threat, but Maddie wasn't about to openly disagree with Esteban like that, so she kept her opinion to herself.

And anyway, she didn't want him to know she was aware of his fears.

"So let me tell you about my day," he said finally in his regular tone, sounding as if nothing were the matter with him, and the awkward, testy scene that had just passed had never happened at all.

And the thing was, Maddie believed him. His voice had always had an influence over her. A comforting word could make her smile when she wanted to cry, a snappish one had sunk her from high spirits into low ones, and now his open, communicative manner was making her forget the strange confusion she had felt not ten minutes before.

But just as she had never known what influence a single look from her could have over Esteban, she was similarly unaware of the influence Esteban was now beginning to have over her.

With rapt attention, she listened to him relate his days activities as if he were telling a fairy tale, where even the mundane things sounded beautiful and extraordinary. When he reached the end of his tale, he asked her how her day had gone.

"Did those old grannies chew you out this morning?" he asked, referring to Maddie's teachers.

"Oh, I think they wanted to, but I didn't give them the chance," she answered. At the thought of their silly suspicions, a laugh began to bubble up in her throat. But then she remembered that maybe they weren't so silly after all. The image of Esteban's hand on his gun appeared again in her mind, and silenced the laugh within her. Suddenly, the happiness of this morning, and the magic of Esteban's stories seemed so far away in the face of the reality of that gun - the reality that her life was cruel, hard and dangerous, and that simple pleasures like shocking old ladies were not reserved for her.

"They probably thought I was some kind of creep." Esteban said quietly. "They wouldn't know you're safer with me than with anyone else." Maddie didn't answer. She was suddenly out of sorts again, and she could tell he was only halfway speaking to her anyway. Mostly, he seemed to be speaking to himself.

* * *

Such was the pattern of Maddie's life for the next few days. Esteban escorted her everywhere she needed to go, only rarely leaving her side. And - every so often, furtively checking for his handgun. Sometimes Maddie saw him do it, sometimes she didn't. But she never let on that she knew anything about it. 

For Esteban, a man who so often prided himself on his aloofness and independence from everyone else in the world, it seemed strange that he had practically handcuffed himself to such a thin, awkward girl. But he didn't seem to mind it. Maddie, however, was beginning to. She appreciated what Esteban was trying to do, but she was starting to feel like a prisoner, especially when she was constantly haunted by the prescence of the Luger pistol. By the fourth consecutive day of Esteban's vigilance, she had reached a breaking point, and made her complaints known.

"Esteban, honestly!" she cried as he once again prepared to escort her to her apartment door. "Can't I at least see a little of the outside world before you send me back to my cage?" But she instantly regretted it. Here he was, showing her every attention she could ever ask for, and she was reproaching him for it. Fearfully, she waited for his reaction, but he only laughed.

"I guess I have been a little overbearing, huh?" he asked.

"Well, maybe a little," she said meekly, trying to make up for her outburst, despite the fact that Esteban wasn't upset. She had expected him to be angry, or at the very least a little peeved. But then again, he _never_ seemed to get angry at her.

"I wonder why that is? " she thought, but then Patrick's words, those words which had first made her rethink her and Esteban's relationship, visited her once again.

"…_feelings of a personal nature..."_

But still, Maddie tried to convince herself that Patrick was just being his usual sarcastic self when he said that. There was no way Esteban would feel _that way_ about a girl like her.

"So where would you like to go?" he said, making her doubt her mental assertion not two seconds after she had made it. If he didn't care for her like that, why was he waiting on her hand and foot? Why didn't he ever get mad at her, when he would lose his temper on other people at the drop of a hat?

"Umm…" she said, suddenly scared of the idea of being alone with him, even though they had been alone together almost the entire week. Now that her head was filled with romantic conjectures concerning Esteban, she was scared to find out whether those conjectures could become actual possibilities.

"How about that Ben and Jerrry's over on Holman Drive?" he suggested. "I'll buy you a mint chocolate chip double." He knew it was her favorite ice cream flavor.

"No," said Maddie, her voice strangely urgent. The thought of all the people who would be at the ice cream shop made her realize that, in spite of her fears, she _wanted_ to be all alone with him. She _wanted_ to hear whether he had feelings for her.

"Let's go somewhere where there's just me and you," she said tremulously.

Esteban looked surprised at this suggestion, and shook his head. "No," he said, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Oh...ok," said Maddie. So he had guessed what she was thinking, and was now trying to dissuade her from pursuing those thoughts. No big deal, right? She hadn't really thought he liked her anyway. So why was she so bothered by it?

After a considerable silence, Esteban spoke up again. "Actually, you know what? I think I _will_ take you somewhere like that,"

"So now he's going to take me out of pity?" thought a mortified Maddie, who then said; "Nevermind. Just forget it."

"Aw, come on now," he said, trying to cajole her into agreeing.

"No. You don't have to do it," she answered, not looking at him.

"I know I don't have to, but- "

"Then don't!" she cut him off irritably, and opened the car door to leave. By this time, all she wanted to do was be by herself, so she could sort through the many different emotions she was feeling towards Esteban. She had gone through so many in such a short amount of time, she didn't know how to feel towards him now, or why she was even experiencing these emotions at all.

"But I want to," he said and reached out to place a hand on her arm, stopping her from getting out, and causing her to stiffen. "I want to do whatever makes you happy,"

"Well...alright then," she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking as she settled back into her seat. She still could not look at him, and she wondered why she should suddenly tremble at his touch.

"Alright then," repeated Esteban softly, and restarted the ignition. Quickly, Maddie flicked her eyes to the hand he used to do it - the hand which she must have come into contact with hundreds of times, but which had never, until recently, left such a strange, tingling sensation on the skin where he had touched her. The hand which was now moving from the ignition key and coming to rest, as it so often did now, on the hidden pistol. She looked away quickly, not wanting to be reminded another time of the awful truths which the gun represented.


	5. Chapter 5

**Augh, I'm so sorry it's taking so long to get these chapters out! Why does school have to take up so much time that I want for fanfic writing? Well, here's the next one, in any case. The action really heats up in this one!**

Maddie stared out of her window in agonized silence. The ride which she had so looked forward to now seemed like a cruel punishment. Esteban sat stiffly in his seat, his jaw set and his eyes staring straight ahead. He neither looked at her nor spoke to her.

"I've really done it this time," she thought anxiously. "I was ungrateful to him one too many times, and now he really is angry." She wished she had never said anything in the first place and just let him walk her to her door. She could have been safe in her own room, free to figure out her feelings about Esteban in private, if she had only kept her mouth shut. But instead, she had consigned herself to this baptism by fire.

When finally she felt the car stop, and the torturous journey end, she looked out to see a children's playground. Now that the sun was setting, the playground's usual occupants had gone home, leaving the place empty.

"Well, I guess I deserve this. By mouthing off to him, I acted like a child, so now he's going to treat me like one," was Maddie's reaction to the sight, and it brought her no small pain to think it. She again felt a strange twinge at the idea of Esteban thinking of her as nothing more than a kid, even though previous to this day, that was all she had expected him to think.

"How's this for you?" Esteban asked her, the gravel crunching under his feet as he moved among the see-saws and slides. "No nosy people around, no crowds. We've got the whole place to ourselves. It's made to order just for you, kiddo."

This last word stung at Maddie's currently fragile emotions, even though Esteban had intended only the opposite effect, as he usually did when he called her by pet names. But in her agitated state, she couldn't see it. All she saw, or thought she saw, was that he was mad at her, and was trying to prove a point. She didn't know that he was really mad at himself.

"Does he have to rub it in?" she thought, not answering him. Instead, she sat down on an empty swing and glumly toed the the ground, gently rocking her swing forward and back.

"What's the matter?" Esteban said. "Don't you like it?"

"No, it's perfect. Exactly what _I asked for,_" she answered ruefully. If she had been looking at Esteban, she would have seen a look cross his face which had not been seen there for many years. It was a look that admitted he might not have all the answers.

"Great," he was thinking. "Another failed attempt at making her happy." It seemed to him that everything he tried to do for Maddie recently was backfiring, and ended up making her upset instead. He fell back against a slide with an angry sigh, which Maddie, of course misinterpreted to be directed towards her. Cringing, she waited for what he would say next, but what he did say surprised her.

"I don't want you to be mad at me, ok?" he blurted out, almost pleadingly.

"Why would I be mad at you?" she asked stiffly, not sure how to react.

"For..." he hesitated. He wasn't in the habit of admitting his mistakes, but anything would be better than having Maddie be angry with him, so he bravely forged ahead. "For not letting you control your own life. For trying to decide where you go and what you do. For treating you like a baby who can't take care of herself. I guess I should just back off..." he trailed off helplessly.

Maddie barked out a laugh. Here she was worrying about her own hurt little feelings, meanwhile making Esteban - who was only trying to please her - more miserable than she. "Don't worry, Esteban," she said," It's not that. Heaven knows you're the only one who does care...and I'm grateful for it," she added, trying to make up for her previous wrongs.

Looking at him, she realized that he had revealed more of himself to her more with that apology than he ever had before. Always before, they had talked of her - her ideas, her problems, her wants, and when she tried to ask him about himself, he was all evasiveness and jokes. But this was the first time he had ever opened up to her freely, and his straightforwardness emboldened Maddie to ask a question he had never dared ask before. She could feel her heart begin to pound as she thought of all the possible answers to her question - and one answer in particular which she longed to hear.

"Why do you do so much for me, though? Especially now. Why are you so especially zealous about it all of a sudden?"

"Hmm, that's a big word there," he said, trying to sound bemused in order to cover his retreat back to evasiveness.

But Maddie was not to be sidestepped this time. Before this day, she had never minded his tendency to dance around her questions, but having once gotten a glimpse into his true self, she knew she could never again be satisfied until he was completely open and honest with her. There were so many questions gnawing at her insides, she felt she would go mad if she went another day without knowing the answers to them all.

"Why do you keep checking for that gun every five minutes?" she blurted out suddenly. There. It was out in the open now, and he would have to give her some sort of answer.

Esteban considered laughing it off as if he didn't know what she was talking about, but one look at Maddie's face, more determined than she had ever seen it, told him there was nothing left to do but tell her the truth.

"I do it for you. I haven't forgotten about Gretl," he said quietly.

"But don't you think _she's_ probably forgotten she ever said that?" Maddie asked.

"Look, I just don't want to take chances, okay? I've told you before how special you are, right? You're someone too special to lose, and it's a dangerous world out there. You never know what could happen." Here, his hand started to move unconciously to his side, but he caught himself and let his hand drop to his side.

Maddie saw him do it, and in place of the usual uneasiness it gave her, she began to get angry instead. As we saw with her questioning of Esteban, she had reached a breaking point this day, and one way or another was going to exorcise the demons that had been haunting her.

"It's just not fair," she said. "Why does the world _have_ to be dangerous? And why do _we_ have to deal with the dangers when other people never know anything about them? Why is it our lot to take all the hard knocks? Why do _we_ have to fight and hustle everyday just to make it through? Why do people want to hurt us when we haven't even done anything to them? Why do I have parents who wouldn't care if Gretl did get me? Why do I think they wouldn't even notice I was gone, or if they did they'd be happy to be rid of me? Why can't I just have something go right in my life for once? Why does everything have to be so wrong?" Her voice cracked unexpectedly on this last word, and Maddie was surprised to find tears coming to her eyes.

Esteban had seen her cry before, without any distastrous result to either of them. Most times, he would just wait passively while she got through it, maybe offer a few comforting words, and when it was over, act as if it had never happened. But this time, his cool exterior had been already been cracked by his unusual confessions, and now that he had let his emotions show, he couldn't stop himself. He reached his arms around her shoulders, which were hunched up defensively as she attempted not to let the tears fall.

_Some may come, love, and some may stay  
Watchin' out for a sunny day_

"Well, things can only go wrong for so long before they start to go right, yeah?" he said gently, looking down at her with eyes such as she had never seen in him before. Normally, he regarded everything and everyone, including her, with the same hard glint. But now they almost shone down at her - almost as if he...No. Maddie was not going to let herself go there. He had given no special indication of any feelings tenderer than those a big brother would feel for a little sister. She had simply let her imagination run away with her, and almost made a mess of things because of it. From now she would just be content to have his friendship.

But the more she tried to reconcile herself to this resolution, the more she found that it would never be enough for her. She needed something more. She needed him to care for her the way she now knew she cared for him. But again, that was just one more thing she could wish for that she knew she would never get.

Suddenly, she grew very tired. The wildly different moods she had gone through during the long day began to take their toll on her, and that last hopeless thought was the straw that broke the camel's back. She had to admit defeat, admit that for all that she questioned her situation, she could not do one single thing to change it. She shut her eyes in despair, and sent one or two silent teardrops falling towards the ground.

"Hey, listen to me," Esteban said, allowing himself to reach up and wipe the tears away. "Things _are _going to get better someday. You're not meant for this kind of life, and there's someone out there just waiting to take you away from it all, waiting to keep you safe and happy, and never let anything touch you."

"You don't know that, Esteban," Maddie said.

"Yes. I do." replied he with finality.

"How can you? Nothing's certain in this world. You said so yourself. So how can you stand there and say you know for sure?

"Because..." here Esteban faltered. In all the months he had known Maddie, he had hidden his feelings for her, unwilling or unable to make them known after a life that had taught him not to get too close to anybody. But now he had come to the precipice. He stood between the safety of hiding behind a mask of simple friendship, or finally taking a risk and telling Maddie what was in his heart, and it must be confessed that the decision frightened him. He could put up a stoic face to the outside world, and could look death and danger in the eye without flinching. But he was so out of practice with matters of the heart that he didn't know what to do. And he didn't even know how Maddie felt about him. He thought he sometimes saw things...but who could tell exactly what the actions of a teenage girl meant? Certainly not he, who never dealt with them in his life before he met Maddie.

The girl in question watched Esteban as he wrestled the problem over in his mind. In spite of how she tried not to, she couldn't help hoping for him to say that he would be the one to carry her away from her current miserable existence. But she watched his face work itself into anxious lines, and took it to mean that he didn't have such an answer for her. That he wasn't going to be that man, and really wasn't certain if she would ever escape at all. She took it to mean that he had just been making up stories to make her feel better.

"Well," she thought to herself, "I won't make him do that anymore. I've been disappointed so many times already, hearing the truth from him can't make this day any worse. After all, knowing the worst for what it is, is better than having false hope, right?" Having thus decided, she finally spoke.

"It's all right, Esteban," she said. "You can just tell me the truth."

She had no way of knowing that those words were exactly what he needed to hear. Upon hearing them, his last reservation washed away, and he at last stepped off the cliff's edge.

"I know because I intend to be that person."

The color drained from Maddie's face as Esteban's full meaning sank in. He wondered whether this was a good or bad thing

"What do you say?" he asked.

Maddie said not a word. Had she somehow fallen asleep and landed in a dream? Slowly, ever so slowly, she nodded her answer to Esteban, in case it was a dream and by being too hasty she should come to the end of it too soon.

But it was all the answer Esteban needed. He took Maddie's pale little face in his hands and returned the color to it by leaning down to kiss her. Maddie, however, was not the only person whose face grew red at his action. As Esteban had so long feared, the Saint Gretl had been following them, growing more and more jealous of Maddie when she saw how watchful Esteban was over her - so watchful that Gretl could never make a move. But now, the moment when all her suspicions were confirmed was also the moment that Esteban had let his guard down, and she saw her opportunity. With an angry glow in her cheeks, Gretl raised the gun she carried in her large hand, and fired.

Esteban felt Maddie go limp in his arms, and for exactly one second, had no clue what was going on. Then in a flash, he realized his mistake, and cursed himself for letting it happen. His gun was in his hand in an instant, and in one more instant the Saint Gretl lay dead on the ground. Esteban did not bother to inspect his work, leaving her in the heap where she lay and dropping instead to Maddie's injured side.

Maddie lay swooning, and wishing she had never let herself feel for Esteban, if it was going to cost her so much. She did not know what had really happened, and in her semi-concious state, all she knew was that Esteban's kiss was connected to a piercing pain, and like Franco's ill-fated Rosario Tijeras, she confused the pain of the bullet with the pain of love.

The last thing she saw before her vision faded was the dark form of Esteban kneeling over her, silhouetted against the purple sky of night. As he lifted her in his arms, she, not recognizing who it was, wondered hazily whether he were an angel coming to take her to heaven. Then the world went black.

_Where there's love and darkness and my sidearm  
Hey, elan, elan..._


	6. Chapter 6

**Here you go, all my lovely little duckies. Thank you for being patient with me as I try to get these chapters out.  
**

* * *

_Here we are now, going to the north side  
I look at my friends as they start to ride_

Esteban looked up from fiddling with the sleeve of his jacket, and lifted his eyes to the other people in the waiting room. It irritated him to see how they all shrunk from him in horror just because his clothes happened to be tinged a particular shade of red...

"It's a hospital, people, come on!" he thought petulantly What did they expect? People to show up in a waiting room dressed for afternoon tea? Echoing the sentiments of the unfortunate Maddie, Esteban wondered to himself who these people were, and how it happened that they led such sheltered lives that they would tremble at the mere sight of blood, while people like himself frequently saw such things sights living on the unforgiving streets? If things had been different - if he and Maddie had been born under different stars - they might have been the same as these people. They might even have been friends. They might have been meeting this very night, somewhere far away from here, under some other, happy circumstances. Ones that wouldn't involve blood and violence and lives hanging in the balance.

For himself, Esteban didn't mind the life he had. He knew he could get by. But for Maddie - gentle, sensitive Maddie - she deserved so much better. She was the reason that he now wished he were one of those other people, so that he could raise her above and away from the cruel, dark life she had known, and give her one full of sunny days. That was, of course, if she would even be around to see another day.

Anxiously, he turned his gaze to the curtain behind which Maddie lay, and as if on cue, a nurse in pink scrubs appeared from behind it.

"You can go in now, sir," she said before he could ask her. "She's weak, but she made it."

He wanted to jump out of his seat, but was surprised to find that the lower portion of his body was asleep. How long had he been waiting in that hard plastic chair? Well, he wasn't going to wait any longer, even if his legs didn't want to work. Forcing his way through the prickling pain, he limped over to Maddie's makeshift room.

Even without the harsh flourescent light, she would have looked very pale and peaked. Her eyes were open, but she closed them as soon as she saw Esteban enter, for she was still confused about the connection between her love and her pain, and she hoped to avoid further pain by shutting Esteban out of her sight.

Esteban halted in his tracks when he saw her do it. What must she think of him, if she didn't even want to look at him? But he forced himself to start moving again. What else could he do, walk out and just leave her there? Never. He had already failed her once. He wouldn't make the same mistake again.

"I'm sorry," he said, but the simplicity of the words didn't match the depth of his regret, so he went on. "I know I let you down, but I really did try to protect you, but the one time I let my guard down was the one time she struck. But you _are_ kind of distracting, you know?" he weakly tried to laugh. But Maddie didn't respond and the laugh died away as quickly as it started.

"You've got every right to be upset with me," he said. "It's my fault you're in this mess. But I want you to know Gretl will never hurt you again." He lowered his voice and continued. "I've made sure of that."

Then Maddie did open her eyes. She wasn't quite clear on what had passed on the playground, and so did not know what he was talking about.

"Esteban, what exactly happened tonight?" she asked.

"Well, um.." he wasn't sure how much he should tell her. He sank down into a chair in the corner while he tried to decide what to say.

"Well, you and I were talking..." he said, deciding to leave out _what _they were talking about. He didn't know if she regretted it now. "..when Gretl showed up. She had a gun and..." he trailed off. How could he say, "And then she shot you when I wasn't paying attention?"

But to his surprise, Maddie smiled at him. She knew now why she was lying here in this hospital bed, and she finally understood that it had nothing to do with how she felt for Esteban. She could trust him to take care of her, just like he had said. But suddenly a pang of doubt shot through her. He had said that, right? Or had she just imagined it somewhere in her delirium?

"You did mean it, didn't you?" she asked warily. She felt that if Esteban had really promised her something, he would know what she meant. But if she had imagined it, then question was still vague enough so that he wouldn't understand it.

For Esteban, no explanation was needed. "Yes, Maddie." he answered, "I meant every word." It was one of the few, if not the first, time he called her by her given name.

A sigh escaped Maddie's lips when she heard his answer. It was the sigh of a weary traveller who has at last found a place of rest. In that sigh was the release of years of despair. She closed her eyes again, and leaned back onto the pillow. For though she was enitrely happy, she was still in a fragile state of health, and even this short conversation had worn her out. But in spite of her fatigue, she managed to reach her hand out to Esteban, who took in it in his own. Neither of them said anything more.

_Ride at night, yeah, we ride all day  
Looking out for a sunny day._

After what could have been five minutes or five hours, Esteban realized that the core members of the Tiptons had come filing quietly into the room. Maddie was asleep by this time, and Esteban wasn't entirely sure that he hadn't fallen asleep himself.

"We came as soon as we heard," Carey whispered to him. "What happened?"

So Esteban recounted the evening's events to the group, but again left out the more personal details of the story. When he had finished, he looked from face to face, trying to read each person's reaction. His eyes fell on London first, and saw tears falling down her face. She had already lost her father this way, and she desperately did not want to go through such a personal loss again. Behind her, Arwin had removed his glasses and was wiping his eyes with a dirty mechanic's rag. Cody Martin had a hand on his brother's shoulder, who, though he was normally who was normally the tougher of the two twins rather looked as if he would like to cry himself. The face of Moseby was set in grim, hard lines. He took personal responsibility for each of his Tiptons, and an attack on one of them was an attack on him. Next to Moseby, Carey's face was creased with concern. She wondered why Esteban was the only person taking care of Maddie, why her parents weren't there to look after her. She knew the kind of neglect that unfortunate kids like Maddie went through, but she stil couldn't help but wonder at it. After all, she took care of her boys, didn't she? What Carey couldn't see was that she, like the defunct Wilfred Tipton had done with London, was still doing a disservice to her children by exposing them to her life of crime and hard-knocks.

The most surprising reaction he saw was on the face of Patrick. None of his usual pride or cynicism was evident in his face. It was replaced by what almost looked like regret "I'm sorry," he blurted out when he saw Esteban looking at him. "Sorry for the things I said to you. If you hadn't been there for her, then..." he didn't finish. He didn't even want to say the words.

This all seemed very strange to Esteban. It wasn't like no Tipton had ever been hurt, or even killed before. It wasn't like none of them had ever lost someone close to them. But for some reason, now that it involved Maddie, they all seemed to take it harder than normal.

"If you had not been there," came an unexpected new voice, "then Gretl would still be alive." All heads turned to see Ilsa standing there, hands on her hips and eyes glaring defiantly at them.

"What are you doing here?" Esteban growled as he jumped to his feet.

"I want to know why my best Saint is no longer able to work for me."

"Yeah? Well it was - " Esteban started, but Moseby cut him off.

"We don't know what you're talking about," he said as calmly as if the statement were really true. It was this ability to be so cool under pressure, almost to the point of glibness, that earned him the role of leader in his band.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, that is so. You're wasting you're time here, so I sugest you leave. Go take care of the rest of your goons, since they don't seem to be able to take care of themselves."

"Which one of you did it, Moseby?" the blonde woman demanded shrilly.

"Hey, keep it down!" Esteban hissed at her. "Don't wake Maddie up."

"Why do you care so much about that silly little slut? How much money can she possibly be making you?" Ilsa responded mockingly.

Before anyone could tell what had happened, Esteban was suddenly two inches from Ilsa's face. "You really want to know what happened to Gretl?" he said, his voice straining as if he trying hard to keep from shouting. "She tried to mess with Maddie, so I messed with her instead. Unless you want me to do the same to you, you'd better keep your dirty mouth shut."

Ilsa didn't flinch. "What can you do to me?" she asked. "You can't do one single thing."

"Oh yeah? Well let's prove it. Get your group together and meet us on the south side tomorrow."

"Excellent. I'll be glad to finally be rid of you all,"

"Umm, excuse me," yet another new voice floated into the room, shattering the tension of the moment. Everyone turned to see the pink nurse meekly sticking her head in. "Visiting hours are over. I'm going to have to ask you all to leave," she said, looking as if she really hoped they would comply. She knew there was nothing she could do to force these dangerous looking people to leave if they didn't want to. Luckily for her, now that the heat of the moment had passed, the leftover anger and tension between eight people crowded into a tiny room now seemed to suffocate them, and everyone was ready to get out.

"After you, Ilsa," Esteban said. There was no way he was going to leave her in a room with Maddie without him there. For a second she looked as if she weren't going to do it, and Esteban wondered whether they would have to get into it right there in Maddie's room. But perhaps because of the grim look in Esteban's eyes, Ilsa simply tossed her head at him and strutted out

When she was gone, Esteban shot a look at Moseby. He knew Moseby had wanted to stay out of a conflict, but that comment Ilsa had made about Maddie really was too much. Esteban expected to meet with anger, or at least disappointment from the older man, but Moseby only nodded silently to him, telling him he understood, then led the rest of the Tiptons out, leaving Esteban alone with Maddie again

There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but feeling the eyes of the nurse on him, he settled fo a quick kiss on Maddie's forehead before he, too, left the room, and the nurse flicked off the lights.

When she was finally alone, Maddie opened her eyes and stared into the darkness. As Esteban had feared, Ilsa's raised voice had woken her up, and she had heard the heated interchange between her and Esteban. She worried about what would happen to her friends tomorrow. Would they ever come back from it? Was that quick kiss the last time she would ever be near Esteban? Was her romance doomed to end before it even really began? These terrible questions swirled in restlessly her head as she fell back into a troubled, restless sleep.

* * *

**Ok, so there's the second-to-last chapter. ****Thanks to captain lyd and Alone in the Solitude of Texas for giving me suggestions on it.**** And in case anyone didn't get it - Ilsa was insinuating that Esteban was using Maddie for prostitution. I know it's an icky idea, but that was the only thing I could think of that would make Esteban mad enough to challenge Ilsa like that!**

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

It was a grim company that assembled in the dirty, dimly-lit subway station beneath the streets of Boston, and boarded the train that would take them to the city's south side, and to the Saints who would be waiting for them. Other passengers scattered from in front of them as they passed, fearing to cross the silent, solemn crowd. 

_Here we are now, going to the south side  
I pick my friends and we hope we won't die_

Not a word was spoken as the train lurched into movement. They looked silently at each underneath the lights which flickered with each tremor of the train as it ran over the tracks. Between flashes of light and dark, they could see Moseby, his face stoic, but his clothes neatly pressed and ironed. He wanted to make sure he would look his best in case he should meet his fate this night. Carey could be seen with an arm around each of her sons. She was starting to feel like she should not have let them come, but how could she not allow them to fight for their friends?

Next to the trio sat Arwin, nervously fingering a long, sharp screwdriver in one hand, and a large, heavy wrench in the other. Despite the fact that he was part of a powerful gang, at heart Arwin was not a fighter. He generally did not like confrontation, and had joined the group primarily for protection. As part of the gang, he could defend himself through strength in numbers, whereas on his own he would have been dead meat. But he would fight when he had to, and this was one of those times. There was no way he would let his friends go off to battle without his support, no way he would not help to bring justice for Maddie. It was she who needed protection now, and he would fight to give it to her, just like the other Tiptons had given him.

Anger was evident in every line of Patrick's face. All of the angst and disappointment of his wasted dreams was concentrated into this moment. In fighting for Maddie, he was fighting for the chance for her to live out her dreams, as he himself had never been able to do. Maybe if someone had been there to help him, he could have done something with his life.

London, her expressions alternating between fear and determination.. She wanted to fight for Maddie, and for all of her comrades, but what if they should fail? The Saints were no two-bit group of thugs. They were cunning and they were able. They had, after all, killed her father, who had seemed so powerful to her. And now they had almost killed Maddie. London wondered uncomfortably whether Maddie would be the only Tipton left after this night. Whether she would be left more alone than London herself had been after her father's death. That experience had been terrible enough, and she had still had the other Tiptons to lean on. But if they were defeated by the Saints, Maddie would have no one in the whole world, and London couldn't let that happen. She would fight so that Maddie would always have someone to be there for her.

This thought led London to the one Tipton who she knew particularly wanted to be there for Maddie. From her seat, she looked up at Esteban. He was standing with his jacket collar popped up around his face, so all she could see were his eyes, smoldering and resolute, not seeing those around him, but staring into some other world. London thought she guessed the reason for so intense a focus as Esteban had. His relationship to Maddie had been made clear to London and the others by the confrontation with Ilsa, and she knew Esteban would stop at nothing to defend their wounded comrade. She knew that thought ought to comfort her, but it didn't. She would never say this to his face, but London wondered whether his love for Maddie wouldn't cloud his ability to think straight in battle, and make him act irrationally. She lowered his gaze from him uncomfortably, and reached down to readjust the position of her knife inside one of her silver combat boots - one of the last gifts her father gave her before he died.

Many other Tiptons sat or stood scattered across the railcar. Silently in the corner sat redheaded Irene. Irene never said very much, but she was always there when needed. Gary and Rich were sitting by her, while a curly-headed youth named Lance sat across the aisle, a thoughtful yet slightly vague look on his face, as if he didn't exactly understand what was going on.

But whatever his thoughts were, they were finally brought to a halt when the train itselff dragged to a stop at the south side station. It was time to face the Saints of Boston. And more than one Tipton wondered whther they would meet the saints of heaven before the night was out.

The events that followed that dismebarkment seemed to come in flashes and blurs. Somehow, the Tiptons had emerged from the dark of the underground and up to the dark fate that waited them as they came face to face with their rivals.

**::Flash::**

Esteban was striding towards Ilsa, his hand reaching to his inside coat pocket. A glimmer of silver and...

**::Flash::**

Esteban was fighting hand-to-hand with the Saint leader, while around him the rest of the Tiptons were each equally engaged. London and Todd St. Mark, the two orphan heirs, circled round and round each other, both trying to get hits in on the other. A ways off, Zack and Cody were tag-teaming opponents twice their size. Like two hornets badgering a bear, their small size allowed them to dart quickly forward and back, getting quick blows in while their larger opponents, who might have had more sheer power, were not agile enough to get a solid hold on them. Their mother Carey had the edge over a female Saint, for, being slender and agile, she was able to use her height to her advantage, and control the tempo and direction of the fight.

Arwin was hacking away with his mechanic's tools. The swings of his heavy wrench connected with more than one head, the dizzying blows followed by a quick lunge with the long, sharp screwdriver in his other hand.

Patrick used no weapon but his own body. For all his intellectualism, he preferred a solid brawl over tactics and weaponry. A balding Saint lunged at him, but Patrick feinted right then slammed back into him with his left shoulder, knocking him to the ground. He had his enemy pinned, but the Saint was burlier than him, and Patrick was having trouble keeping him down.

Moseby, on the other hand, was almost balletic in his movements. With exceptional grace he could neatly sidestep any who attacked him, and he never even flinched when he attacked others in his turn. His face remained perfectly calm throughout, and he made no excessive movements. This was not to say that he did not feel as passionately as everyone else, only that he had learned to control that passion so as not to waste energy or lose his focus.

**::Flash::**

Esteban and Ilsa were still battling it out, both bleeding from multiple points, but neither able to gain the upper hand. Todd St. Mark, given his height and size advantage, was naturally was stronger than London, and had started to wear her down just a little. She was limping slightly, but her knife flashed as frequently as ever under the dim orange streetlights.

_Ride at night, ride through heaven and hell_

**::Flash::**

The Saint took advantage of Patrick's struggle, and grabbed his arms suddenly to keep him from moving. While Patrick struggled to free himself, the Saint sunk his boot in the redhead's midsection. Patrick doubled over in pain, and was helpless to stop his enemy from flipping him to the ground. As they flipped, the bigger man kept his hold on the Tipton's arm, and as soon as he was upright, the Saint leaned viciously back. A crack rang out, and Patrick's arm fell slack and useless to the ground. Unable to fight back, all he could do was lay there, allowing his adversary to maul him. With each hit, he could feel his life slipping from him, going the way his dreams had years ago. But just before the end, he smiled. His life and his dreams had met up at last.

Moseby looked over in fear and concern at the sight of the first of his Tiptons to go down. It was this concern proved to be his undoing. His opponent took advantage of the one moment Moseby let his guard down, and struck him a thunderous blow to the temple. Moseby staggered but managed to remain upright. He tried to continue the fight, but the blow had disoriented him badly, and the Saint easily struck again. Moseby folded and fell, but his face remained as equable as ever, only perhaps, a little more peaceful. He did not move again.

**::Flash::**

Without their leader, the Tiptons were on the verge of falling apart. Carey was willing and able to take his place, but the mother side of her kept distracting her from her role as leader. She found herself watching her sons twice as much as she looked out for the others. Sons who, being young and small, and not equal in skill or stamina to the adults they were fighting, were tiring, slowing down in their attacks as well as in their blocks, and receiving more and more hits as a result. When Cody, ever the more delicate of the two, took a hit that lifted him off his feet and sent him sprawling facedown on the ground, Carey forgot all else, becoming in that instant the mother she should have been all along. She ran to them, and stood herself squarely between the large Saint, and Zack, who was shrinking away from his opponent like the scared child he was. He seemed to have lost all his toughness without Cody there to back him up.

"Mom!" he cried, his voice trembling.

"Just stay right behind me, honey, I'll protect you," she said, not taking her eyes off of the advancing enemy.

"No, Mom, it's Cody!" he cried again. Streaks of red were beginning to seep their way through the blonde locks on his brother's unmoving head.

"I think...I think he might be..."

Carey stole one quick glance and saw the frightening condition of her younger son. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she let out a shriek of despair. To the Saint, this was a challenging trumpet, and he lurched towards Carey and Zack. Carey tried to fight back as hard as she could, but she was blinded by tears and weakened by grief. When it looked like all would be lost, Zack's courage returned to him, and he threw himself in front of his mother. They went down together, next to the form of Cody, and all three were still. Carey lay - as she had so often appeared in life - with one arm around each of them.

London saw them go down. She turned to Todd, letting out a scream of horror and rage. She would make him pay for what the Saints did to her friends. What they did to her father. She lunged at him, knife held high, but in the melee he somehow managed to wrest it from her hand. He raised his arm high for the final blow, pausing for a second as if he wasn't entirely brave enough to bring it down. But as London had done, he thought of his father, and what Ilsa had told him - that it was this girl's father who had caused his death. And as London' had, his face screwed up in anger, and he brought the knife passionately.

But in his moment of hesitation, Arwin had managed to clear a path to London, and dove to push her out of the way, taking the blow for her. Arwin Hawkhauser, the quiet, the awkward, the mild, who could barely take care of himself, had become a hero.

London stared at the scene before her in shock. She was weak, wounded, and tired. She had seen her friends fall in battle, fear and irresolution had been trying to get the better of her all night, and this last scene, happening right in front of her face, a scene which was meant for her, was the final blow to her psyche. The terror finally gained control, and it paralyzed her. She could not move, and watched with helpless eyes as Todd turned to face her...

**::Flash::**

Esteban stood alone, his face contorted with rage and despair. Guns in both his hands were blazing, bullets flying, but barely making a dent in the sinister crowd of Saints advancing slowly towards him...

**::Flash::**

In her hospital room, Maddie tossed violently in the bed. Her head ached, her face burned, and her throat felt scratchy and dry. The place where the bullet had been throbbed angrily. She felt like she had been shot all over again. Somewhere outside of her room, someone dropped what sounded like the world's supply of glass and metal. There was a terrific crash and the echoes of clangs and shatters seemed to bring the echoes of a terrible truth to her - a truth she had not seen but somehow knew. Esteban was dead. They all were.

Tears instantly flooded her eyes, and she turned to bury her flushed face in the pillow.The Tiptons, the only family she had, were gone. Zack and Cody, Carey, Moseby, Arwin, London, even poor Patrick - she would never see them again. She woud never again have so many people care about her. She would never again have a safe place to run when her life got to be too hard.

And Esteban. She would never again hear his reassuring voice soothing her whenever she felt really low. Never see his mocking smile, the one that always made her cheer up, where he looked as if he knew some funny secret but wouldn't tell her. She would never hear him call her "darlin', " or "bunny rabbit," or any of those hundred silly names he used to call her. And she would never see that rare pensive look he sometimes got in his eyes when he thought she wasn't looking. And most painful of all, she would never again feel his arms around her, or his heart beating so close to hers, a feeling which she barely knew at all. All she would ever have of it now was that one promise on the playground.

The tears fell freely and sobs racked her body until she could barely breathe as she played in her mind all the things she would have live without. Her life up til now had been so full of darkness that she would have been consumed by it if not for Esteban. When everyone else in her life had failed her, he had been her one last candle, keeping the night at bay. But now that her last light had gone out, she could feel the darkness closing in all around her, crushing her, breaking her. Without him, she was lost.

"You just stick with me, little one." She remembered his words from the first day she ever met him. A day when he had found her wandering aimlessly down a dingy back alley, and taken her home to the Tiptons. Ever since then she had never had to go it alone. He had always been there. Echoes of conversation and snatches of his voice played endlessly in her brain.

"Mornin', sunshine..."

"...Let's see a smile, princess..."

_"_Hey there, bunny rabbit..."

"Sweet dreams, chicky baby..."

"...Made to order just for you, kiddo..."

"...Don't cry, little one."

Maddie shut her eyes tight and clamped her hands over her ears, trying to stop the memories of the way he used to sound. As she lay there miserably, she felt a soft, cool touch on her hot, flushed forehead. Reluctantly she opened her eyes, and saw the image of Esteban gazing down at her.

"What's the matter, baby?" he asked as he brushed her disshevelled bangs out of her eyes.

"So now I'm hallucinating," Maddie whispered to herself. "Or maybe _I've _died, and this is heaven."

"What are you talking about?" Esteban questioned. "Nobody's died. We're all right here, look and see." He gestured over to where the other core Tiptons stood.

"They're all here...I _must_ be dead," Maddie said, suprisingly less panicked than she thought she would be.

"Hey, hey, listen to me," Esteban said, kneeling beside her. "Nobody died, ok? We got rid of the Saints, and came back here just especially for you. We're all safe and sound, baby. Did you think we'd go off and leave you?"

"But I saw you... I saw the Saints...or at least I thought...what was it I saw then?" asked Maddie, thoroughly confused.

"The nurse said you had pretty high fever. I guess you must've been delirious."

"How do I know that _this_ isn't me being delirious, and what I saw wasn't real?"

"Here," Esteban said as he took her hand and placed it over his heart. "Now you tell me. Could this still be beating if I were without you?"

The pulse Maddie felt under her hand seemed to go all through her, chasing all the shadows from her mind, warming the chill in her soul, lifting a crushing weight from her spirit. The cares she had been carrying her entire life seemed to melt away like snow under the first sunrise of spring. The future he offerred her with that heartbeat was unfolding itself before her in a dazzling display of light. But just as no flowers can grow under clouds, it was future that could not come true in the bleak world of crime and vengeance and violence they lived in. Maddie understood this, and said suddenly,

"Let's get out of this kind of life, Esteban."

"Oh, so you admit that I'm alive now?" he asked, that teasing smile which she loved so much creeping back onto his face.

"I'm serious," Maddie said, though she couldn't help smiling herself. "You promised you'd take me away from this all someday. So let's do it now. As soon as I get out of here, let's get off the streets and start something new. "

"Hey, have you ever known me to break a promise?" he asked. "I'll set it up so you don't have ever have to even lift a finger. And I'm not going to hustle for it either. I'll work however many jobs I have to to make sure you're safe and warm and protected. From here on out it's a better life for us."

"I want to find something better, too." Carey spoke up. "This is no kind of life for my boys. I've realized that tonight. I want to give them more than they can get out here."

"Do you mean it, Mom?" asked her sons "What are we going to do?"

"Well, I used to do some singing when I was younger. You know, perform at cofee shops and stuff. I'm sure I can find somewhere. But as for you two, I'm going to put you back in school." The two had gone when they were younger, but as Carey became more involved with helping Moseby run the Tiptons after Wilfred had died, she had less time to make sure they stayed there, and eventually just began letting them come with her on the streets.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Cody. "I think I could do well in there if I got another chance."  
"I guess maybe I could too," Zack said. He had never really enjoyed school when he was in it, but the spirit of enthusiasm was catching, and now that he thought about it, he decided that he _did_ want to make something out of his life eventually.

"Good. You two will do fine there, and I'm going to start being be a better mom. I think together we're going to make it." Carey smiled down at them.

"Maybe I can find _my_ mom someday" London piped in. "Daddy left me a little money - I could hire someone to help me look. Or maybe I don't even need her anymore. With Daddy's money, I could do something to take care of myself. Maybe I could open my own shop - like a boutique or something."

"Well until you do, feel free to work with me at the restaurant I'm going to open," Patrick told her.

"A restaurant?" asked Esteban, smirking good-naturedly. Whatever bad blood had been between him and Patrick had been dissolved since they visited Maddie last, when Patrick had shown, for the first time, his true self. "I would have imagined you in a bookstore or something."

"Oh please. Can you imagine how amazingly dull somewhere like that would be after all the action I've been used to with you people?" Patrick flashed a smile which hardly anyone could remember seeing on his face before. Finally, he was coming to terms with his life, learning to let go of bitterness of the past, and start anew from where he was now.

Inspiration was beginning to spread in the small room. Just as each of the Tiptons had found their reason to fight in Maddie's injury, her hope was now giving them reasons to hope as well.

Even though they knew they would have a long way to go before any of them could actually open their own businesses, they were finally beginning to find some direction for their lives, and were willing to work towards it in any way they could.

"I think for now I'll take that job I saw advertised at the Jiffy Lube. I'd like to work on cars...you know, the legal way," reflected Arwin thoughtfully.

"What about you, Moseby?" Carey asked. Now that the Tiptons were abandoning the street life, what would their leader do, he who had made them his life?

"Well, I've always thought it might be nice to run a hotel," Moseby answered with sly smile.

As her compatriots happily began to discuss their future plans, Maddie felt Esteban slip his hand into hers. Amidst the cheerful chatter of their friends, neither of them needed any words. They simply smiled at each other, and Maddie knew she was home.

_Come back, love, and feel so well.  
_

* * *

So there it is. The epic conclusion to what has been an epic writing experience, and I hope an epic story. Interestingly enough, I finished this fic one day before the year anniversary of when I published "The Last Place You Look." But before I sign off on this fic, I just want to talk a little bit about my inspirations for it, because music played a big part in writing this story. Obviously, the story is based on the song _Southside_ by Gwen Stefani and Moby. I thought it would be interesting to put the Suite Life characters in the world the song described, where darkness and weapons are part of everyday life, and it's all anyone can do to find a "sunny day." Plus, the many lines addressed to "love" naturally suited my E/M tendencies. The relationship I gave these two in the story was modeled after that of John and Carol in the film _American Graffitti_, where John, an indifferent tough guy finds an unexpected soft spot for innocent young Carol. 

Some other songs I listened to to help inspire me while writing were _To the Moon and Back_ by Savage Garden, _Beauty from Pain_ by Superchick (the "one last candle to keep out the night" line in this chapter was a lyric from this), and _Rosario Tijeras_ by Juanes (which was based on a book of the same name by Jorge Franco, and was referenced in chapter 5.)

And I guess that's all I have to say. So again, there it is. Thanks for sticking with this story all the way to the end, and I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Until next time, keep up the Maddie/Esteban support just like you always do - with style, devotion, and great _elan. _♥

-Aeris Tiniel Mirime


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